Toshiba Satellite A500-11U
Specifications
Price comparison
Average of 7 scores (from 8 reviews)
Reviews for the Toshiba Satellite A500-11U
Source: CNet
Archive.org versionThe Toshiba Satellite A500 is a budget laptop aimed at those who don't earn a banker's salary but still want a machine that will let them watch movies, listen to music and play the odd game. There are two versions available: the A500-17X and the A500-19X. There's not a great deal wrong with the Toshiba Satellite A500. It's pretty fast, relatively affordable and very solidly built. Give it a gander if you're looking for a decent multimedia machine with plenty of features
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 11/12/2009
Rating: Total score: 70%
Source: Trusted Reviews
Archive.org versionMinor fit and finish issues aside, the Toshiba Satellite A500-11U is a cracking desktop replacement laptop. It'll gobble up CPU intensive tasks and games with aplomb, while the addition of a TV tuner and ample storage space makes it perfect for people short on space. We'd like to have had a 64-bit OS to go with the prodigious processing power, but it's still a system well worth recommending.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 10/16/2009
Rating: Total score: 90% price: 90% performance: 90% features: 90% mobility: 50%
Source: Tech Advisor
Archive.org versionIt's a 16in notebook and weighs 3kg, so the Toshiba Satellite A500 will be a little awkward to lug to and from work or the classroom, and it will only just fit into a modest-sized backpack. However, that's to be expected from a notebook designed to reside on a desk. The Toshiba Satellite A500 is a fully featured notebook that's perfect as a desktop replacement, and even as a media hub for your lounge room. It's big, so you won't want to lug it around with you, but it's stylish, so you will want to show it to your friends.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 09/08/2009
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: Pocket Lint
Archive.org versionToshiba’s Satellite A500 marks a new direction for the brand, with excellent multimedia capabilities more in line with the company’s Qosmio range than regular Satellite models. Along with raw power, it’s also stylish, comfortable and well made. It’s a shame that the Satellite A500 centre doesn’t provide a higher resolution screen, but overall it’s an excellent choice, offering great performance and impressive value for money. The backlit keyboard makes it a comfortable proposition, and good quality means it’s also a machine you’ll be able to use on a daily basis. If you’re looking for a mid-sized media centre, and this is within your budget, then it comes highly recommended.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 08/27/2009
Rating: Total score: 80%
Foreign Reviews
Source: PC Magazin - 2/2010
Single Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 01/01/2010
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: PC Welt
DE→EN Archive.org versionUser Review, online available, Medium, Date: 12/17/2009
Rating: Total score: 73% price: 80% performance: 89% features: 100% mobility: 22% ergonomy: 44%
Source: c't - 21/09
Comparison, , Very Long, Date: 10/01/2009
Rating: performance: 80% features: 80% display: 80% mobility: 40% ergonomy: 70% emissions: 80%
Source: PC Welt
DE→EN Archive.org versionSingle Review, online available, Medium, Date: 09/22/2009
Rating: Total score: 66% price: 80% performance: 82% features: 89% mobility: 10% ergonomy: 31%
Comment
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650: The Mobility HD 4650 is based on the Desktop 4650 architecture, but features a lower clock rate of memory and core. Depending on the core clock (450-550MHz possible) and the used memory (DDR2, DDR3, GDDR3 with 600-800 MHz possible) the mobile 4650 can show a different performance. The current consumption of the chip alone ranges from 15-25W. Features Avivo HD video features.
Non demanding games should be playable with these graphics cards.
» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.
Intel Core 2 Duo: This is the Core Duo and Core Solo successor with a longer pipeline and 5-20% more speed without more power consumption. As an addition to the Core Duo design there exists a fourth decoder, an amplified SSE-unit and an additional arithmetical logical unit (ALU).
The Core 2 Duo for laptops is identical to the desktop Core 2 Duo processors but the notebook-processors work with lower voltages (0.95 to 1188 Volt) and a lower Frontside bus clock (1066 vs 667 MHz). The performance of equally clocked notebooks is 20-25% lower than Desktop PCs because of the lower Frontside bus clock and the slower hard disks.
P8700:
Mid-range dual core processor with 3 MB level 3 cache and a TDP of 25 Watt.
» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.
16.00":
15-inch display variants are the standard and are used for more than half of all laptops.
The reason for the popularity of mid-sized displays is that this size is reasonably easy on the eyes, often allows high resolutions and thus offers rich details on the screen, yet does not consume too much power and the devices can still be reasonably compact - simply the standard compromise.
» To find out how fine a display is, see our DPI List.3 kg:
With this weight, a laptop is rather heavier than average. Devices in this range shine more with screen size and performance than with mobility.
Toshiba: Toshiba Corporation is a Japanese conglomerate or technology group. The company was established in 1939 and in 1978 Toshiba became the official company name. The company's products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, elevators and escalators, electronic components, semiconductors, hard drives, printers, batteries, lighting, logistics and information technology. Toshiba was one of the largest manufacturers of personal computers, consumer electronics, home appliances and medical equipment.
77%: This rating is not earth-shattering. This rating must actually be seen as average, since there are about as many devices with worse ratings as better ones. A purchase recommendation can only be seen with a lot of goodwill, unless it is about websites that generally rate strictly.
» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.
